War profiteer companies

All over the world, thousands of companies profit from war and violence - by selling weapons and military equipment, offering training and other services to the military, or exploiting resources made accessible through war and conflict.

As part of our War Profiteers News magazine, we write regular profiles on some of these companies, exposing their role in profiting from war and violence.

Imperial Armour is a South African company based in Durban, which produces a wide range of clothing, uniforms, boots, bullet proof vests and body armour, helmets, bags, and equipment such as binoculars, belts and holsters for military, police, fire and rescue, and demining groups.

Otokar is the biggest private arms company in Turkey, and specialises in military land vehicles such as tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and turret systems. Formed in 1963, the companies vehicles are now in use in 30 different countries, and the company claims there are now over 30,000 Otokar vehicles in service around the world.

A new report called “A Lab and A Showroom” exposes how the extreme violence used by the Israeli military against Palestinian protesters also supports the development and sale of military equipment by Israeli arms companies.

Lockheed Martin is the world's biggest arms manufacturer, and world's biggest exporter of arms. The companies headquarters are in the USA and it employs over 126,000 people worldwide, building everything from ballistic missiles to combat ships, robots to satellites, radars to aircraft, and other products and services.

Elbit Systems, an “international defence electronics company” is Israel's largest weapons producer. Through it's subsidiaries around the world, the company produces a wide variety of high-tech products for the military and security industry.

CMI (“Cockerill Maintenance & Ingénierie”) Defence is a Belgian company, building a wide range of artillery systems for light and medium armoured vehicles, as well as related services and training, including simulation systems, maintenance and repair, and upgrades.

Thales is a French company, part owned by the French government, that builds a vast range of radars, sonars and electronic surveillance satellites, tactical communication systems and combat management systems, drones, helicopter avionics, armoured vehicles, mortar systems and missiles.

Northrop Grumman is the world's fifth biggest arms manufacturer, with over 68,000 members of staff around the world, and builds a wide range of weapon technology, including planes, drones, sensors, and radars.

In Canada, eleven indigenous Guatemalan women are in the process of taking a multinational mining company to court. The women allege that in 2007, police officers, soldiers, and private security personnel attacked their village of Lote Ocho, in eastern Guatemala, and burned dozens of homes in a bid to drive the community from their ancestral land.

Moog Inc. is a large weapons manufacturer, specialising in hi-tech systems for a range of military and civilian purposes. According to the SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Moog is the world’s 83rd biggest arms company.